Things to avoid:- temperatures below 20°C (they are Asian ants that can't deal with cold and they do not hibernate)- making the nest too moist (Camponotus in general like it less moist)- disturbing them too much (especially during the founding stage)- putting them into a formicarium too early (do NOT put them into a formicarium until they have at least 20-50 workers, before that keep them in a test tube of appropriate size, if needed put the test tube into an outworld)

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Jinjernut1

Taken from myantshop.com:"This species is polygynous and as the colonies increase in size they will allow newly mated queens to enter the nest. Once the new queens have been fully accepted they will frequently move around at night between the different nest sites."

I didn't know they were polygyonous but if they say so it's probably true.Be aware however that these ants are already fast-growing for Camponotus standards and can reach 1000 workers in 2-3 years with a single queen.

It can be done but only in mature colonies, so that would be 1000+ workers before they might accept a new Queen. And even then there is no guarantee, most likely outcome is that they would kill the new Queen.

I just like the idea of a polygonous colony, if a queen dies the colony lives on, and if i want to expand the colony i simply add another queen (provided they accept said queen) is there another species you could suggest that fit my ideal criteria? 5mm or biggerPolygonous Major - minorEasy to keepNo hibernation!!!

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Jinjernut1

You may be able to integrate a new queen once the founder queen dies. The workers will live on fairly well enough for a good while so once the old queen is thrown out I would try to have the new queen welcomed in which is possible though still risky. Camponotus nicobarensis queens I believe can live up to 25 years though referring to what is said on Antstore.

A polygynous colony is where multiple Queens exist at the same time. Simply adding a new Queen if the founder Queen dies is not polygyny. Depending on the species, introcuding a new Queen is possible but risky as ScarletAsh says.

I would love carebara diversa, but like you say, they are hard to keep, they can die in 24 hours if the nest gets to dry, meaning i could never go on holiday for more than a few days, i want to be able to leave them and just ask someone to check the water and throw some mealworms and honey in every couple days, any other suggestions?

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Jinjernut1

I would love carebara diversa but they are too fragile, the whole colony can die in 24hours if not kept correctly, i need to be able to leave them in the care of an amateur for holidays, any other suggestions?

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Jinjernut1

I would love carebara diversa but they are too fragile, the whole colony can die in 24hours if not kept correctly, i need to be able to leave them in the care of an amateur for holidays, any other suggestions?